Chris DeJong is the founder and president of Big Blue Swim School, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary of the first stand-alone location in 2022 .
Chris is a five-time US National Champion swimmer and swam at the University of Michigan . During his time at Michigan, Chris competed in the Olympic qualifiers in 2004, where he just missed the team. After graduation, he competed again in 2008, where he lost to Michael Phelps by just three-tenths of a second.
Chris’s swimming story started growing up on the shores of Lake Michigan, where learning to swim is imperative. His mother enrolled him in swim lessons when he was five years old. However, his first experience with swimming was not indicative of his future with swimming.
Initially, Chris was afraid of swimming, and his first lesson in the cold waters of a local municipal pool left him not wanting to go back. As luck would have it, though, Chris’s mother taught swim lessons which meant Chris’s initial fear of swimming quickly calmed as he continued through his lessons.
By eight years old, Chris began swimming competitively. Swimming provided Chris much more than just pride in being able to win in his meets. He found that his ability to overcome his fear made him more confident and stronger.
“I started swimming competitively when I was eight years old and continued through high school and college, but swimming meant more to me than just winning,” said Chris. “It showed me strength, discipline, a sense of community and overall confidence.”
Through high school, Chris continued to compete in swimming and eventually went on to the University of Michigan. While at Michigan, Chris competed in the Olympic qualifiers in 2004 and after graduating he competed again in 2008, unfortunately missing a post on Team USA both times.
After missing his Olympic dreams by just three-tenths of a second, Chris realized the unfortunate truth that his competitive swimming days were over. With that, he moved to Chicago and started coaching a competitive youth swim team and working with a country club’s recreational aquatics program. He then began teaching private lessons on the side in a 60-year-old pool in a church basement with no windows.
Relationships were quickly created during his time teaching swim lessons. Eventually, with the help of investors, Chris was able to open his own pool for lessons in Spring of 2012. The pool quickly grew to over 2,000 lessons per week and the path for Big Blue’s future growth was set.
Though the competitive part of swimming had ended for him, that did not mean he had lost his competitive spirit. Additionally, Chris openly admits that in the beginning, he had no idea what he was doing.
“That competitive drive in me transitioned to building a business from scratch. I had no idea what I was doing. I had zero dollars in the bank, but I just started teaching swimming and building relationships, and I loved doing it.”
Big Blue now has 18 locations across the country, with roughly 20 new locations opening in the next year. Obviously, his competitive drive hasn’t stopped for one second.
“Chris’s natural competitive spirit is apparent every day at Big Blue,” says Brooke Mallick, Chief Marketing Officer at Big Blue Swim School. Brooke has worked alongside Chris for over three years. “He is always pushing us to be better, not just than the competition, but better than ourselves from the day before. Competition is a huge part of who he is.”
But how did this one pool offering swim lessons in Chicago grow into such an expansive franchise? Chris attributes this to answering a need of families everywhere.
“Sometimes, your best business ideas are hiding in plain sight,” said Chris about how he realized this was a concept that could really continue to grow from just one pool. “Swim lessons might seem like a simple idea, but it meets the need of families across the country, and unlike other sports lessons, swimming is a lifesaving skill. With something that important, it cannot be automated or outsourced, making for a strong business concept.”
Having grown up in Michigan on the lake, Chris knew more than most that swim lessons are vitally important to children everywhere – not just in saving their lives but in building a kid with confidence.
“I might not have made it to the Olympics, but swimming still gave me incredible confidence in myself. Because of the lessons I learned when I started swimming and throughout my swimming career, I developed the confidence to start my own business. That’s something no one can take away from me and something that every child should have.”
Fourteen years after starting Big Blue, Chris’s work caught the attention of L5 Capital Partners, which helped the brand launch its national franchise strategy. The first franchise location opened in 2020 in Johns Creek, GA. The brand has now signed agreements for 230 units and is well on its way to reaching its goal of 240 units committed by the end of 2022.